Genocide Essay -- History, Hitler, The Holocaust

Living through genocide is a horrific tragedy that no one should ever have to endure. While there have been numerous genocides within the last century, the holocaust was a genocide that killed over 12 million innocent people and segregated them by religion, sex and age. Since the end of the holocaust, many survivors wrote their stories accounting the horrific lives they led, while some eliminated parts of their story, others felt that it was necessary to show the entirety of what had occurred. With these first hand accounts, the reader is able to see the differences between how men and women lived their everyday lives as well as how they were treated by Hitler’s regime. In Elie Wiesel’s, Night, and Sara Nomberg-Przytyk’s, True Tales from a Grotesque Land, Auschwitz, men and women prisoners lived lives that the everyday reader would find impossible. By reading these accounts, the readers can question themselves as to why this occurred as well as to why it matter s. While people heard stories about the atrocities that were going on within the camps, many families did not want to believe them. Other families did not want to immigrate into other countries that were considered safe because they felt that they were too old to start a new life in a new country. Entering the holocaust at a young age, Elie Wiesel’s only reliance was his family. Separated from his mother and sister as soon as they arrived at the camp, the only person he had by his side was his father. Having to depend on his father, Elie made decisions that would benefit them as a pair such falsifying his age when he entered the camp. By making these decisions there would be a better chance that they would be able to stay together as a family. After entering the camp... ...and terrible sores all over their bodies† (Nomberg-Przytyk 95). With the author stating that she still had a heart makes the reader understand that people truly cared about others inside the camps, they did not want others to die. Throughout the holocaust, men and women prisoners lived lives that the everyday reader would find impossible. While men and women were treated differently during the holocaust, the overlying image of genocide is what is important for people to learn about. By reading Elie Wiesel’s, Night, and Sara Nomberg-Przytyk’s, True Tales from a Grotesque Land, Auschwitz, the reader is able to answer why reading the stories of the past still matter. By preserving the history of the men and women within the holocaust, the following generations will be able to remember the 12 million people killed during Hitler’s regime.